Face Without a Name
by EsmeAmelia
Summary: Leia is haunted by recurring dreams she can't explain - until she and Han are invited to Naboo by a fellow senator who seems to have an agenda.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I wouldn't be here if I owned Star Wars, would I? Well, here's a little challenge fic for your enjoyment. Oh yeah, and to those of you who've read my big story, "My Mother," this one takes place in a separate universe from that one, even though both stories have similar subject matter. Meaning, in this story, Naboo is part of the New Republic, Pooja is already a senator, and Padme is dead (and staying dead, sorry).

"Face Without a Name"

By EsmeAmelia

Eyes...

Large, brown, sad eyes...

Yet despite their sadness, they seemed to envelope her in their comfort...

A smooth face...a pained smile...

Dark brown hair...

A high, gasping, and yet pleasing voice calling her name...

Leia's eyes opened, slowly, hesitantly, yet undoubtedly awake. Awake...pulled away from that face, back into the real world where that face didn't exist. She groaned, squeezing her eyes shut as she rolled to her back, trying to make out that face in her conscious darkness.

She had seen the face before...countless times. The eyes came to her nearly every time she fell asleep, it seemed. Even on mornings when she couldn't remember what she had dreamed, a subconscious sense seemed to tell her that the woman had visited her again.

Her husband snored next to her, inches away from her ear, making her groan again. What made Han worthy of sound sleep that wasn't plagued by dreams of unknown and yet familiar faces? Her head turned to face him, his slightly-open mouth, his mussed hair, his scrunched eyelids. So peaceful, unlike her.

She inched her way out of bed, attempting to drive the face to the back of her head like she had on countless other mornings, but somehow today she was unable to do so.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Coruscant had never felt like home, Leia thought sullenly as she stood by the large window in her living room, watching the speeders dart back and forth to who-knew-where. This wasn't home. Home was a place where people were content, not rushing all over the place.

Actually, no place had felt like home since her planet's destruction. Perhaps it was to be expected, but if her true home was dead and gone, what was she to do now? Was she to live the rest of her life as a wandering soul, forever searching for something lost?

She might have thought marrying Han would rid her of this feeling, this...emptiness. Maybe sometimes she even was able to fool herself into thinking that her marriage _had_ indeed succeeded in eliminating it. But no, mornings such as this stood as very solid proof that the emptiness still existed. Even Han couldn't eliminate it.

She shivered, pulling her robe around her chest. It was nearing four years since the destruction of Alderaan. Four years she had been homeless. Had she ever cried about it? Had she ever allowed herself to grieve the loss of her home?

Why couldn't she remember?

Her mind rushed through memories, thinking that she _had _to have cried at least once in all this time, yet she couldn't recall any specific time when she had, couldn't remember even a single tear shed for her planet.

When was the last time she cried, anyway?

She pinched the shaggy carpet with her toes, closing her eyes, her body tensed, trying to produce a tear, a sob, anything...but nothing came. Not even when she pressed Bail and Breha Organa's faces into her mind, not even when she imagined herself walking down the halls of her old home. It was as if she had forgotten how to cry.

Her eyes opened, still dry, still void of emotion, still empty, nothing blurring her vision except her own mind, which proceeded to eliminate everything from her focus except a stack of papers on a table. Blank, white, empty...waiting for something to appear on them, something to make them meaningful...

She picked up a sheet.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Han yawned, stretching his arms behind his back, cracking his knuckles. After a moment or two of sitting up in bed thinking of nothing except going back to sleep, he suddenly remembered the joke he had prepared for the night before. His lips curled upward, eager to see how Leia reacted to it. In one swift move, he slid out of bed, pulled on his robe, and dashed towards the living room.

He expected to find his wife pacing around the room, fully dressed in one of her fine senator outfits except for stocking feet, an angry look on her face at the discovery that her shoes were missing. Instead, he found her still in her robe and barefooted, staring blankly out the window, a piece of paper dangling from her left hand.

"Leia?" he asked.

She said nothing, she didn't even acknowledge his presence. The back of her head remained pointed in his direction, as if trying to tell him to go away. Her only movement was a tiny shaking of the paper in her hand.

Han slowly tiptoed up to his wife until he was standing right behind her, but still she did nothing. "Uh...Leia?" He cleared his throat. "Hon...have you seen your _shoes_ today?"

"No," Leia said vaguely, not looking at him. "Why, are my shoes missing?"

Han gulped, beginning to think this wasn't the best morning for a practical joke. "They might be...why don't you try lookin' for 'em?"

"Maybe later..." Leia said in that same distant voice, still refusing to show him her face.

Han placed a hand on his wife's shoulder, which again received no reaction. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing that should concern you," Leia responded. "Except maybe for the part about my shoes missing."

Han sighed, beginning to stroke her shoulder with an intimate tenderness. "Okay, I hid your shoes. No big deal - I just wanted a little extra time with you, that's all."

"That was childish," Leia said with a very noticeable lack of real interest. The paper in her hand crinkled slightly as she pinched it.

Han's hand slowly slipped off her shoulder, moving downward until his fingers could brush the paper. "What's this?"

Leia's hand abruptly shot up and pressed the paper to her chest. "None of your business."

"Well if it's none of my business, why can't I see it?"

Leia swallowed, finally turning her head to face him, as hesitantly as a small child meeting an intimidating stranger. "There's...there's no reason for you to see it." Her eyes seemed to be looking at something far away. "I'm...I'm going to work."

"Your shoes are in the cabinet under the kitchen sink," Han mumbled, feeling a slight bit of disappointment that his joke couldn't be enjoyed.

As soon as Han spoke, Leia immediately began walking towards the kitchen in quick, even steps, dropping the paper in the process. It floated lazily to the floor, as if teasing Han to take a look. Although he hesitated for a moment or two, he quickly succumbed to his curiosity, bending over, picking up the paper, and then raising his brows when turning the paper over.

It was a crude sketch of a woman's face.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Leia's office in the Senate building had never felt like home any more than the rest of Coruscant did. Perhaps it was the place that felt less like home than anywhere else. Here she had to be Senator Organa Solo, whose life was devoted to her New Republic. Senator Organa Solo, who knew how to solve any problem. Senator Organa Solo, who always had to be devoid of any kind of emotion. Senator Organa Solo, courageous, hard-working, sharp-minded, endlessly available to her fellow politicians.

Never just a regular human.

What, she often wondered, was it like to be normal? To be allowed to feel, allowed to make mistakes, allowed to do things for herself?

The buzzing of her intercom jolted her out of her thoughts like an alarm waking her from a deep sleep. Her hand automatically reached forward to push the button on her desk, regardless of whether or not she actually felt like talking to anyone.

"Senator Organa Solo," she said in a dull voice. "Who is it?"

A high, nearly unfamiliar voice answered. "Senator Pooja Naberrie of Naboo. May I come in?"

Leia's eyebrows involuntarily raised, her emotional stupor dissipated by a tiny bit by curiosity. Why would the senator from Naboo want to see her? They never worked together, only seeing each other during meetings. She tried to picture a face that went with the name Pooja Naberrie, but found that she couldn't remember what she looked like.

"Come in," she said, her voice betraying nothing, as cold and professional as it had always been.

A woman who appeared to be somewhere in her early thirties with light brown curly hair and a deep blue dress seemed to almost dash into the room and up to Leia's desk, barely pausing to make a slight curtsy. "Senator Organa Solo, I'm honored."

Leia quizzically raised an eyebrow. "What are you so honored for?"

The Naboo senator looked at her with large, round eyes, her pudgy cheeks betraying a hint of blush. "To be talking to you. You're probably not aware of this, but I'm a strong admirer of you and everything you've done."

Leia's teeth ground behind her lips. Hero worship, another thing that separated her from normal people. "So...you just came here to say hello?"

Senator Naberrie grinned slightly. "No...no." She began fanning herself with her hand. "No...gosh...actually...there's a very important reason I'm here."

"Well have a seat," said Leia, gesturing to the chair in front of her desk.

Pooja obeyed, breathing deeply, as if trying to gain the courage to reveal an uncomfortable truth. "Senator...I've come to extend you an invitation."

Leia's forehead stretched, as if she were looking at someone who wasn't right in the head. "What?"

"I'm visiting my home planet of Naboo soon," Senator Naberrie continued. "And well...I was wondering if you and your brother and husband would like to come with me."

"Luke's away," Leia said, trying to brush off this strange invitation lightly. "He's on a mission to recover old Jedi artifacts."

Senator Naberrie's face fell slightly, but not enough to completely eliminate her smile. "Well, what about you? And your husband?"

"Well...I guess we could come."

"Great!" Pooja exclaimed, her smile becoming full again. "I'm leaving in two days - I can take you in my ship."

Leia felt as if she had just been tricked into taking a mission she didn't want. "I guess...maybe...but why are you inviting us to your planet anyway?"

Pooja's smile grew so wide it nearly touched her ears. "You'll see."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Han was lounging barefoot on the sofa, sipping some white foamy drink from a tall glass when Leia got back to their apartment. Before he even had the chance to greet her, she came stomping up to him, grabbing the glass and taking a long gulp of the creamy, tangy beverage before handing it back to him.

"Uh...Leia?" Han asked, wrinkling his nose at the foam sliding down the side of his glass. "Bad day at work, I guess?"

"Depends on what you'd call a bad day at work," Leia said huffily. "We've got an unexpected vacation, you might call that good."

"What??" Han nearly spilled his drink at the revelation. "What are you talkin' about?"

"I'm talking about the crazy senator from Naboo inviting us to her home planet."

Han's lips curled to the side. "Naboo? Ain't that the planet the Emperor came from?"

"Yes," said Leia, flopping down next to him, shaking the cushions.

"Then why the hell are we goin' there?"

Leia raised an eyebrow at him. "We're getting a vacation - why would you complain about that?"

"Depends on what the vacation includes," Han muttered, taking a long gulp of his drink. "Anyway, you dropped this when you left." He pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and flattened it out to let his wife see what was on it. "Do ya happen to know who this is?"

Leia's heart jumped, the memory of this morning suddenly returning to her. Her hand shot out and grabbed the paper, nearly ripping it as she yanked it out of her husband's grip. "You weren't supposed to look at this."

"And since when does that stop me?"

Leia growled, letting herself stare at the picture for the first time since drawing it. Despite the smudge marks and the cross-out lines, the face from her dreams seemed to be jumping at her with its narrow eyes, smooth dark hair, and full lips. "This...this is nothing," she mumbled.

"Seems like a pretty big nothing," Han replied. Leia imagined that his eyes were probably rolling, but she lacked the ability to look at him. After several moments of staring at the lines until they blurred in her eyes, she slapped the paper down on her knee.

"If you _must _know," she muttered, unsure why she was telling him, "it's just someone I've had dreams about, that's all."

Han's teeth brushed his chapped bottom lip. "Are you serious? How the hell do you remember her well enough to draw her?"

Leia closed her eyes, shaking her head. "I guess it's because I've seen her a lot."

Han whistled. "Wow...what I wouldn't give to be able to draw some of the women from _my _dreams..."

Leia's face shot up, glaring at him and seeing that he was grinning. "That had _better_ be a joke."

"Course it is, sweetheart." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "Not that you can control who you dream about, though."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

There was little dialogue on the flight to Naboo. Pooja talked of various sights to see on her home planet as she and her two passengers sat around the game table in her ship's lounge, but neither Leia nor Han paid much attention. Han seemed decidedly uncomfortable, whether because he was traveling with a stranger or just because he wasn't used to being a passenger, Leia wasn't sure.

"It's winter there now," Pooja was saying awkwardly. "Very pretty."

"That's nice," said Leia, her mind wandering far away from the ship, returning to the face from her dreams, flinching at the idea that Han now knew about it.

"And my sister's having her baby shower," Pooja continued. "You're both welcome to come."

That statement finally got both Leia and Han giving their full attention.

"Sister??" Leia exclaimed.

"_Baby shower??"_ Han exclaimed, gritting his teeth.

Pooja sighed. "You don't have to come if you don't want to, but it would mean a lot to both of us if you did."

Han's hand came slamming down on the table. "So ya roped us into visiting your planet just so you could invite us to a baby shower? What the hell kinda scheme is this??"

Pooja swallowed several times before speaking. "It's not a scheme...exactly."

Han sneered. "_Exactly?"_

The senator clenched her teeth. "Look, it's really, really hard to explain - you'll have to trust me on that. I know it's difficult, but I'll tell you everything at the baby shower. I promise."

Both Leia and Han's eyebrows went up, but before either could speak, the ship's young pilot came striding into the lounge.

"Senator," she said, "we're coming in on the Naboo system and should be landing shortly."

"Very good, Captain," Senator Naberrie replied before turning back to her guests. "My sister's heard a lot about you two..."

"Who hasn't?" Leia muttered.

Pooja ignored her. "...and she'd really like to meet you. You don't have to bring a present or anything - it would just mean a lot to us if you showed up."

Leia sighed, feeling that the senator was going to press the matter until she gave in. "Well...I guess we could..."

"Thank you!!!" Pooja exclaimed like a child being told she could have dessert early.

Leia ground her teeth behind her lips, feeling vibrations in her mouth. What had she gotten herself into?

AN: This was originally going to be a oneshot, but then it got really long so I decided to split it into chapters. It will probably be in two or three parts. Anyway, I know I haven't been here lately, but there should be a new chapter of one of my longer stories coming soon, so keep looking.


	2. Chapter 2

"Face Without a Name"

By EsmeAmelia

AN: Sorry about the long gap between updates (why do I keep saying that?). Well, if you've read my story "My Mother," you'll notice some familiar details, but hey, why should I reinvent the wheel for a short story like this?

Chapter 2

Leia and Han both shifted nervously as they descended the ship's ramp behind Senator Naberrie. Upon their reaching the ground and stepping into the nighttime air, thousands of snowflakes the size of fingertips showered down on them, wetting their hair and heavy coats. They pulled their coats around them, silently following the senator wherever she was leading them.

"Ya know, we ain't exactly dressed for a baby shower," Han brought up after a while, his tone bordering on desperate.

"I keep telling you - that doesn't matter," said Pooja, her boots digging into the snow that was at least six inches deep. "She'd just like you there."

Han growled softly before grabbing his wife's arm and pulling her to his side. "Honey, have you noticed that this lady's _crazy?_" he whispered through his teeth.

Leia gave no answer, not even looking at her husband, instead gazing up at the domed buildings on either side of the street, their roofs dusted with snow.

"Leia?" Han persisted.

As if suddenly in a hurry, Leia quickened her pace until she was quite a few steps ahead of her husband, leaving him to stare at the back of her coat as it whipped around her legs in the chilly wind.

- - - - - - - - - - -

"Siran!" Pooja exclaimed when a blonde-haired man answered the door to her sister's house.

"Pooja, Pooja, Pooja!" the man exclaimed in a jolly voice. "So very glad you could make it. Your sister and I were starting to think the senate would keep you away from us!"

"Oh come on, do you really think I'd miss Ryoo's baby shower?" After giggling for a second, Pooja turned and extended her arm to the couple behind her. "I've brought some special guests with me."

Siran's eyes widened at the sight of Leia and Han. "My goodness...Leia Organa and Han Solo themselves."

"Yes." Pooja nodded, extending her hand to the man and her attention to her guests. "Leia, Han, my brother-in-law, Siran."

"Nice to meet you," Leia said mechanically as Siran shook her hand in amazement. She had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes at him. Hero worship was _not_ something she enjoyed.

"Yeah," mumbled Han, who didn't like hero worship any more than his wife did.

"Well what are we standing around for? Come on in!" Siran said in a jolly voice. "My wife has talked about nothing but meeting you for some time now. Well, except for when she talks about the baby, of course."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

After entering the large living room, the four had to elbow their way through the immense crowd of guests before they could get to the couch where the expectant mother sat. She had straight, dark brown hair that went past her shoulders and a smooth, mature face. Her large stomach looked anxious to poke through her dark blue dress.

It was Pooja who reached her first, smiling like a child. "Ryoo!" Before her sister could even greet her, she sat down on the couch next to her and put her hand on her large stomach. "The three essentials for happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. A baby covers all three."

Ryoo gripped her sister's face and pulled it towards her so she could kiss her cheek. "So glad you could take time off from your busy schedule to come here." Her voice was deep, almost a mumble.

"Of course I could!" Pooja exclaimed, patting her sisters stomach. "And I _swear_ that I'll be heading back here the instant my little niece is born."

"So you already know that it's a girl?" Leia interjected without remembering to introduce herself first, as if Ryoo were an old casual friend.

The pregnant woman jumped slightly in surprise, abruptly jerking her head upward. Upon seeing who addressed her, her eyes grew wide, as if staring at a childhood hero.

"So...she actually came..." she mumbled.

"Yes," Pooja said gently. "She came. Her husband's here too."

"I'm sorry," Leia quickly cut in. "I don't know why I said that without introducing myself..."

"It's all right," interrupted Ryoo, her eyes still widened. "I...I'm glad you came...I mean, I know this whole thing must seem strange to you..." She cleared her throat, hesitantly offering her hand. "I'm Ryoo."

Leia gently took her hand. "Leia." She extended her other arm behind her. "And this is my husband, Han."

"Yes, I figured," said Ryoo, shifting her glance only slightly, seeming hesitant to look away from Leia.

"Just so you know, this invitation kinda sprung on us," Han said uneasily. "So if you were expectin' a present or anything, don't hold your breath. Oh yeah, and we don't usually come to strangers' baby showers, so don't go expectin' us to make this a habit."

Ryoo actually smiled for a moment. "Don't worry, I'm not. Anyway, you'll both know why I invited you here soon. We may not be such big strangers after all."

Han flashed a confused and irritated look at his wife before Pooja spoke up. "Tell them what your daughter's name will be."

The pregnant woman rubbed her lips together, as though she thought the baby's name had to be kept a secret until it was born. "Would...would you like to know the baby's name?"

"Sure, why not?" Han said with a sigh. "Maybe that'd make this slightly less weird."

Ryoo tapped her fingers on her belly as she gazed up at Leia. "What about you?"

"Why _wouldn't_ I want to know the baby's name?" Leia began wondering why she suddenly felt so comfortable, as if Ryoo and Pooja were old friends.

Ryoo's eyes gazed down at her stomach, effectively hiding from Leia's stare. "Her name will be Padme...after my late aunt."

"Late?"

Ryoo looked back up at her. "My aunt Padme died when I was a girl. She...she was a great leader."

_Padme_...why was that name tugging on Leia's mind? She couldn't recall ever knowing anyone with that name...so why did she feel like she was connected with it? Padme. Had she ever even _heard_ the name before? Padme...Padme..._Padme._ Why was she repeating it to herself?

"It's...it's a beautiful name," she managed to say.

"Thank you."

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

The party progressed with what seemed like dozens of strangers gushing over Ryoo and her family. Not wishing to become the center of attention themselves, Leia and Han eventually settled themselves near the back of the room by the snack table. Soon Han was sampling the rather large pastries while Leia found herself wandering along the wall, her eyes running over the various holos on it.

There were a good many holos of Ryoo with her husband, some of two little girls Leia guessed to be Ryoo and Pooja when they were children, some of large gatherings of people that were perhaps parties or family reunions. She only gave each holo a passing glance that barely registered in her mind...until she spotted a holo of a young woman, and her eyes widened.

The woman in the holo had wavy brown hair, sharp brown eyes that seemed to be looking directly at Leia, a smooth, round face, a wide, inviting smile...Leia froze, unable to look away, unable to even blink. She was back in her dreams...they had found a way out of her head and into the real world.

"Leia?" Han's voice asked. "You okay?"

Leia kept staring, barely aware of her husband's presence, unable to think of anything beyond the face in front of her. The woman from her dreams...she was real...she was real...she was _real._

"_Leia, do you remember your mother? Your real mother?"_ When Luke asked her that question, she hadn't been sure whether or not she was telling the truth. Her answer had perhaps been a wish rather than a true memory - a wish that the person from her dreams was connected to her.

"Han..." she finally managed to say. "Han...that's...that's _her._"

"What?"

Before Leia could give an answer, a middle-aged woman with silver-streaked dark hair, wearing a royal purple dress trimmed with gold thread, approached the couple. "Hello there," she said in an accented, hesitant voice, offering her hand. "I'm Sola Naberrie, I'm Ryoo and Pooja's mother."

Taken aback, but unable to stop thinking about the holo, Leia had barely shaken her hand for a second before blurting out, "Who is she? The woman in that holo?" Whatever restraint she had been taught to hold her entire life ebbed away - her voice carried desperation.

Sola sighed, gazing up at the holo, seeming to make a point of not looking Leia or Han in the eye. "Her name was Padme Naberrie Amidala. She was queen of this planet a long time ago. Then she represented us in the Galactic Senate...before the Sith killed her." She inhaled deeply, as if trying to prevent herself from crying. "She...she was my sister."

"Sister??" Leia and Han reacted together.

Sola's gaze lowered. "She's...she's actually the reason why you're here." A long, uncontrolled sigh emitted from her mouth, highlighting the lines in her cheeks. "I-I-I...don't know how to tell you this...maybe I'm not the one to tell you..."

Han stuffed a small cake into his mouth, making loud smacking noises as he chewed. "Should I be here for this, or is this somethin' private only for Leia?" he said with his mouth full.

Sola sighed once again. "It affects you too...just not as greatly as Leia."

Leia's face was stoic, but her mind was spinning. Sola's face was blurring in front of her eyes, mixing with the woman from her dreams every time she blinked until they seemed to be a single entity.

"W-we're...we're related, aren't we?" As soon as the question exited her mouth, it didn't matter whether or not Sola had the courage to answer. She already knew. Perhaps she had known the instant Pooja invited her to Naboo. There could only be one possibility, one reason why the face of Sola's sister haunted her so.

Sola breathed in. "I...I think I'm your aunt."


	3. Chapter 3

"Face Without a Name"

By EsmeAmelia

AN: Sorry about the delay updating this story (again). There will be one more chapter after this.

Chapter 3

Leia and Han sat together on a sofa in the back of the large living room, silently watching the guests depart one-by-one, neither one able to speak. Leia's hands were clasped together in her lap, her fingers woven around each other so tightly that they lost their color. It was the only thing she could do to keep them from shaking.

Mother...aunt...cousins...why were those words refusing to resonate in her mind? These people were her family - why wasn't she throwing her arms around them? Her head slowly turned to the side to look at Han, who appeared to be inspecting his fingernails. He didn't have the answers any more than she did.

Finally Pooja...her _cousin_ Pooja...came up to them and sat in a large chair across from the sofa, swallowing repeatedly. Now Leia noticed the physical similarities between Pooja and her aunt. They had the same shade of brown hair, the same face shape...

Pooja cleared her throat. "Well...I guess you know why I invited you now, right?"

Silence followed. Leia stared ahead, past her cousin's face, focusing her attention on a far-off corner where a small table with a vase of flowers stood. Maybe her mother liked those kinds of flowers. Maybe they had these flowers because her mother liked them...

"I...I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier," Pooja continued, seemingly not noticing that Leia was staring into space. "I don't know why I didn't...maybe I thought it would be better to hear the news when the whole family was here...well, I actually wanted both you and your brother here, but..." She trailed off, perhaps realizing that she couldn't express the reason.

Leia's breath grew heavy, a single aspect of the day's revelations pounding in her head. "She's...she's dead." The whisper escaped her lips on its own, not waiting for her permission. "My mother's dead...she's really dead..."

Pooja stood up and put a soft hand on Leia's shoulder. "Yes...yes, she's dead."

Leia inhaled until her lungs were stretched to their limit, blinking rapidly, continuing to stare at the vase. She knew her mother was dead...she had always known...why was this affecting her so much? Why did it feel almost like she was receiving the news for the first time? Her stomach was twisted, making her grateful that she hadn't eaten anything at the party.

"I wish I knew what to say," Pooja said suddenly. "I guess...we just thought you should know. You have a right to know."

Leia looked into the senator's eyes for the first time since receiving the news. "Thank you..." she said stiffly.

But _was_ she really thankful?

- - - - - - - - - - -

"Leia?" Han asked once they were settled in the large bed in Ryoo's guest room. "Are you okay?"

Leia inhaled several times, staring up at the dark ceiling. "Why wouldn't I be okay? I've just discovered relatives I didn't know I had - what's not to be okay about?"

Han rolled over, putting a hand on her chest. "C'mon Leia, I know you better than that."

Leia pushed his hand off of her as if it were an irritating insect.

Her husband sighed loudly. "Look, I know this is weird. Hell, it's weird for _me_ too - I can't imagine what it's gotta be for you."

"They seem nice," Leia said vaguely.

"Yeah," agreed Han. "But do you really wanna call 'em family? As I recall, the last time you discovered a long-lost family member didn't exactly work out too well."

Leia was thankful for the dark, thankful that her husband couldn't see her flinch. "Whether I want to call them that or not...they _are_ family. I can feel it." Her rapid blinks blocked the moonlight from her view. It _was_ her mother that she had dreamed of. It _was_ her mother that she remembered. She even had a name now. _Padme._ Did that name fit the image she held of her mother? Did she even _have_ an image of her mother? Was there any conception in her mind beyond the vague images from her dreams?

_Beautiful...kind...sad..._the words she'd said to Luke when describing their mother...did they fit a name like Padme?

Perhaps she would dream of her again tonight...perhaps she would find some answers...and yet the thought of seeing that face again made her nauseous. Was she perhaps mourning the mystique? Wondering what other secrets this family might tell her?

"Han?" she suddenly whispered, unsure what else she wanted to say.

Han didn't answer.

"Han?" she repeated, her voice increasing in volume.

He gave her no assurance that he was here, no comforting words, no romantic gestures, only his all-too-familiar snores. She sighed as she rolled away from him, lacking the energy to wake him up, wishing tomorrow would just come and revive her from this odd stupor.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Breakfast the next morning was quiet. Leia and Han sat at the small kitchen table across from Ryoo and Siran. All were still in their nightclothes, and none looked like they had slept very well. Apart from the occasional yawn, no one seemed able to speak, as if the food had some sort of silencing power.

Finally Ryoo cleared her throat, drawing the attention of her half-awake guests. "My mother and my sister are coming over today."

"That's nice," mumbled Han, staring into his cereal.

The pregnant woman cleared her throat again. "We would like to...get to know you a bit better." She swallowed. "And...we have some recordings of my aunt."

Leia's eyes shot up at her cousin. "What...what sort of recordings?"

Ryoo sighed. "Family times, mostly. Things from when I was a little girl."

Leia took a long sip of caf to try to calm herself down. Recordings...her mother...speaking, possibly. What sort of voice did she have? No sooner had the question entered her mind than she remembered something else from her dreams...a high, pained voice calling her name...

"Of course, we'll only watch them if you _want_ to," Ryoo continued. "I don't want to force you to do anything you're not comfortable with."

Leia's finger traced the rim of her caf mug. "I'd...I'd like to see them, actually."

- - - - - - - - -

As Ryoo set up the collection of holovids they'd be watching, Leia focused on the sound of her own breath, trying not to let it increase in volume or speed, trying to ignore her insides tensing up. She gave no glances to Han sitting next to her or Sola and Pooja sitting on the other end of the sofa. Her face remained still, revealing none of the nervousness she felt inside.

She tried to remember if she had dreamed of the woman - of her _mother -_ last night, but recalled nothing. But then, did she ever actually fall asleep last night? She remembered lying in the dark for what seemed like an eternity...perhaps she hadn't even slept. No...she almost definitely didn't sleep - she was fairly certain that if she had, her mother would have visited her dreams again.

"This is from when I was born," Ryoo explained. "My aunt was still queen back then."

"_Queen?_" Leia and Han reacted together.

Sola sighed. "Apparently there's a lot to tell you about my sister." She smiled sadly at Leia. "You have politics running deep in your blood - your mother ruled this planet for eight years, starting when she was only fourteen, and then she spent the rest of her life serving in the Galactic Senate."

Her mother was a queen. Many people would probably be dazzled by that revelation, but she was already used to carrying a royal title. If anything, the news carried a hint of depression for Leia, reminding her of the home that was no more.

"So you're a _real_ princess," Han said in awe. "Not just an adopted one."

Pooja grinned. "I guess you could say that, but we elect our rulers here."

The holovid beginning distracted them all from the conversation. Leia watched with wide eyes as a younger Sola appeared on the screen, sitting up in a hospital bed, a tiny bundle in her arms. She was smiling down at the bundle, whispering to it.

"How's the new mommy?" said a male voice.

Sola looked up, the smile still on her face, though there seemed to be a hint of embarrassment in it now. "Dad! Warn me before you start recording - I was about to feed the baby."

"That's your grandfather, Ruwee Naberrie," the real Sola whispered.

Leia stared without blinking as the man came into view. He was clean-shaven and balding, a large, ecstatic smile on his face. "I'm a grandfather," he said happily. "I can't believe it, I'm a grandfather."

"All right, enough of that," said a high, mature female voice.

"My mother, Jobal," Sola whispered quickly.

A dark-haired woman in a purple dress entered the recording's view. "Come on Ruwee, Sola probably wants to rest."

The Sola in the recording began laughing. "I don't need to rest until after the queen's been here."

"Well you can rest now, because the queen's here."

The holcamera panned to the doorway, where there stood a young woman of around seventeen or eighteen, wearing an elaborate red dress that went down to the floor, trimmed with golden thread and blue lining. Her face was painted white, with tiny red dots on her cheeks and a red vertical stripe in the middle of her bottom lip. Her hair was set in two large braids sticking out of her silver headdress like animal horns. Yet even in all her adornments, Leia immediately recognized the queen.

_Mother..._

"Congratulations, sister," the queen said in a heavily accented voice, her smile stretching the stripe on her lip.

"Padme!" Sola reacted with a laugh.

The queen strode up to the bed, followed by two girls dressed in orange-yellow hooded robes - Leia guessed they were servants of some kind.

As soon as Padme reached the bed, she patted her sister's shoulder. "How's my new niece doing?"

Sola gazed down at her bundle. "She's doing fine." Her voice raised its pitch. "Aren't you, sweetie? Would you like to meet the queen? Would you?"

Padme giggled lightly as Sola handed her the baby. "Hello Ryoo," she whispered, forgetting to use her accent. "I'm your aunt Padme. Don't worry, you won't have to see me like this all the time - only when I'm working."

As the recording continued, Leia's eyes were fixed on the queen. She couldn't look at her aunt, her infant cousin, or even her grandparents. Learning about her grandparents who were probably dead would come later. Right now, her soul was focused on the woman with the painted face, planting a word on it, a word she had long hoped would belong with the face from her dreams.

_Mother._

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Leia pulled her coat around herself as she walked alongside Han, Ryoo, Siran, Pooja, and Sola through the seemingly endless graveyard. The sunlight reflected off the snowy ground, making her squint, unable to make out the names on any of the stones, yet she kept expecting the word _Padme_ to appear on one of them. The group walked in a cluster, almost as if they really were a family, yet there seemed to be a certain invisible distance, as if the cold air had solidified between them, preventing them from actually _being_ a family.

"So..." Han said awkwardly, "...just how do you guys _know_ Leia's related to you, anyway?"

Sola sighed. "By putting two and two together, so to speak."

"Meaning?"

Sola looked past Han into Leia's eyes. "My sister brought her boyfriend home to visit us once. Although she insisted that they were only friends, we could all tell that it was otherwise." She nodded at her niece, as if Leia had already made the connection. "Yes, Anakin Skywalker. The man your brother later revealed to be your father." She gulped. "And...there's more."

"What?" Leia and Han inquired at the same time.

Sola continued to stare directly at Leia. "Shortly before she died, my sister sent me a letter saying she was...pregnant." Her breath gave long heaves between words. "She...she wouldn't tell me who the father was, but she instructed me not to tell anyone, not even our parents. I spent so many years believing that the baby died with her..."

Leia looked away from her aunt, her eyes following a pair of children climbing over the gravestones and laughing, unaware that they were playing on the markers of the dead. They kept up their acrobatics until their mother stepped in and told them that they were being disrespectful to the ghosts who made this place their home.

"Leia?"

Ryoo's voice jolted her attention back to the group. "What?"

"We're here..."

Leia's glance immediately shot downwards, as if the gravestone would kill her if she looked directly at it. She gazed at the snow crystals on her boots for a few seconds before slowly gaining the courage to look back up.

The headstone was as tall as a room and nearly as wide. The name _Padme Naberrie Amidala_ stretched across the top of the stone, beneath which was carved a portrait of the senator between her birth and death dates, which revealed that she had been only twenty-seven when she died.

Leia felt as if her heart stopped. Her breath came in and out of her nose in abrupt waves. Her hand slowly, carefully reached out, with as much caution as if petting a strange animal. When her fingers made contact with the etching of her mother's face, her head began spinning, yet the face remained in complete focus. Here she was. Leia wanted so desperately to say something, but though thousands of words ached to be spoken, only one found its way out.

"Mother..."


	4. Chapter 4

"Face Without A Name"

By EsmeAmelia

AN: God, why is it that there are certain stories I neglect for months and months at a time? Oh well, thanks to those who read and reviewed while this story was dormant. Yes, I'm using Nia, my OC from "My Mother," in this story as well. Hey, who's to say she can't exist in more than one universe?

Chapter 4

That night, Leia once again lay awake, staring up into the endless blackness, listening to her husband's soft breathing, envying his ability to sleep. Her mother's gravestone seemed to be dancing above her in the dark, reminding her of the person she would never know. The kind face would never again look at her; the gentle voice would never again speak to her. All she had were dreams, the unreal, unreliable collections of fragmentary memories. Dreams . . . and stories of a time before she existed.

She rolled over to her side, wrapping the covers as tightly around her as she could without waking her husband, the visit to the graveyard overtaking her mind. She had seen her grandparents' graves too, as well as the grave of Sola's late husband, yet those somehow didn't affect her much. Yes, she wished she could have known Jobal and Ruwee Naberrie, but she had no memories of them even in her subconscious. They were like fictional figures to her psyche.

But Padme was different. She _remembered_ Padme.

Her blinks were long and slow, and yet she was afraid of letting them last. She was afraid of slipping back into that world where the dead seemed to exist again, where impossible hopes were realized, where everything would inevitably disappear too soon, where she would awaken distraught at the unrealness of the vision.

Her mother's grave lingered in her head, as vivid as if she were standing in front of it once again. She saw Padme's name etched in the stone . . . her face frozen in time . . . her birth and death dates marking such a short life . . .

The grave stayed with her for what seemed like hours, only leaving her alone when she finally fell asleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Leia?"

That voice. She knew it . . . but where was it coming from?

"Leia?"

She ran through the flowers, only thinking of the voice, only thinking of finding the person to whom it belonged.

"Leia sweetheart, where are you?"

"I'm here, Mother, I'm here."

As if by magic, her mother appeared in front of her, wearing a flowered yellow dress and a matching hair band encircling her head and her ears. She looked the same as she always had before, except now she was . . . happy. Truly, genuinely happy. Whatever burdens she carried before had vanished.

Their arms flung around each other, wrapping around each other as tightly as was humanly possible. Leia inhaled her mother's scent – she smelled as fresh and sweet as the flowers around them. It was almost dizzying . . . but dizzying in a satisfactory way.

"Leia . . ." Padme whispered again, kissing her daughter's cheek. "You found me."

Leia gulped. "What?"

"You found me," Padme repeated. There was the tiniest glimmer of a tear in her right eye. "I've been watching you and your brother for so long . . . but you didn't know who I was."

"I saw you . . ." Leia said, her hand caressing her mother's soft cheek. "I kept seeing you for as long as I can remember."

"Exactly," said Padme. "You _saw_ me, but you didn't _know_ me." She kissed her daughter's forehead. "But now . . ."

She didn't need to finish that sentence. Leia swallowed repeatedly, feeling tears streaming down her face as her mother squeezed her again with that wonderful tightness that wouldn't last. She only ever saw Padme in . . . _dreams . . ._

"This is a dream," Leia said suddenly, causing Padme to jump and release her from the embrace, her face once more wearing that sad, pained expression she wore in Leia's other dreams.

"This is a dream, isn't it?" the daughter persisted.

Padme's eyes were lowered, her breath slow and audible. "Yes . . ." she finally whispered, ". . . this is a dream."

"That means you'll disappear," Leia's voice was suddenly and unexpectedly desperate. "I'll wake up alone again."

The mother sighed, pushing a lock of hair behind her daughter's ear. "You're not alone, Leia. You've never been alone." She planted another gentle kiss on her daughter's forehead. "I've always been with you, watching over you and Luke." Her arms squeezed her daughter once again, pressing their bodies together.

Leia breathed in her mother's sweet scent, trying to press it in her memory. "I don't want to wake up . . ." she whispered.

"Come on, you know you don't mean that," said Padme, stroking her daughter's hair. "You have a wonderful life to go back to."

"But _you_ can't go with me." The tears blurred Leia's vision of her mother, as if she were already disappearing. "I find you only to lose you again."

"Like I said, you've never lost me . . ." Padme murmured.

Leia sniffed. "I might forget this when I wake up. I've forgotten before."

"No you won't," Padme said firmly, gripping her daughter's shoulders. "You'll remember everything, I promise you." She leaned over and kissed her daughter's head as she wiped her eyes. "Come on, you can wake up now."

Leia's mouth trembled . . . she could already feel her real, physical eyes beginning to open. "No . . . no . . ." she whispered. "Don't leave me . . ."

Padme was already fading into darkness. "I've never left you, sweetheart . . ."

Leia's eyes opened, bringing the real world back to her. At first there was complete darkness, but as her eyes gradually adjusted she began to make out her surroundings. The nightstand next to the bed, the lamp resting on it, the window that let in the faint bit of moonlight. Spontaneously, almost unconsciously, she got out of bed and walked towards the window, noticing large snowflakes dancing through the sky.

Snow . . . it was so beautiful . . . like the winter nights on Alderaan. She remembered how she always insisted on going outside when it snowed during her childhood, how she would grab her father's hand and drag him outside without even waiting for him to get his coat on. Perhaps if Padme had lived, she would have done the same thing with her. Yes, she could clearly imagine it. Padme would always be happy to go out with her daughter.

Suddenly she wanted to do it again. Light on her feet as if dancing, she made her way to Han's sleeping form. Without a moment's hesitation, she practically dove on his body, shaking him back and forth. "Han! Han! Wake up!"

Han moaned sleepily and sank down under the covers.

"Come on Han, wake _up!_" Leia persisted, practically shoving her husband.

Finally he stuck his head out of the covers, his eyes obviously wanting to close again. "Uuuuhhh . . . Leia . . . what is it?"

"It's snowing," Leia said quickly.

"So?" Han growled.

"So let's go out."

Han shot up to a sitting position. _"What?"_

"I'm serious," sad Leia. "Let's go out."

Han sighed disbelievingly. "And I guess you haven't noticed that it's _the middle of the night?_"

"So?" said Leia. "If we wait until morning, the snow will have stopped." She yanked at his hand as if trying to pull it off. "Come on. Just a few minutes and then you can go back to bed, I promise."

Han couldn't argue when he knew Leia wouldn't leave him alone until he gave in. "Fine . . . but just a few minutes, that's all."

"Agreed."

- - - - - - - -

Soon Leia and Han were venturing out into the snowstorm, their winter coats and boots hastily thrown over their nightclothes. The instant they were outside, Leia began running like a child, nearly dancing in the snowflakes. She gazed up at the sky, admiring the thousands and thousands of large snowflakes sprinkling down on her, blowing around in the wind, seeming almost alive.

Her mother would love a night like this, she suddenly realized. She wasn't sure _how_ she realized it, but once the thought came into her mind she believed it to be absolute truth. The dream danced in her head, darting around as fast as the snowflakes, its every detail as vivid as if it actually happened.

Maybe it did . . .

She continued to run, savoring the atmosphere, the glossy moonlight, the invigorating cold, her feet crunching in the snow, the peaceful, mystical blanket of whiteness covering the streets. She laughed and laughed as the clouds of snow blew around her face, sending flakes into her mouth, though she had no idea why she was laughing and she didn't even care. She _was_ a child again, not concerning herself with the past or future, but simply with the moment.

She didn't stop running until she reached the bank of the frozen lake. The lake Padme loved so much, the lake she used to swim in. She probably skated on it too. Yes, yes . . . Padme _did_ skate on this lake, Leia decided. Once more she thought of the dream, feeling her mother's presence flow through her, as if her actual spirit were here.

Maybe it was . . .

"_You're not alone, Leia. You've never been alone."_ Perhaps what Padme told her daughter in the dream was true. Leia had never before considered whether or not she believed in ghosts. Luke claimed to have been visited by Obi-Wan Kenobi's ghost, but at the time, Leia didn't think she believed him. She may have shrugged it off as some wishful fantasy . . . but _now_ she was feeling something entirely different. Her mother was there, she felt it as strongly as she felt Han's presence behind her or the cold wind whipping through her hair.

After a few minutes of the snowstorm enchanting the couple, Han pulled Leia into his arms, gazing into her eyes in the moonlight. He smiled at his wife for a long, lingering moment before kissing her lips, savoring her, seemingly wanting to never, ever end the touch.

She was feeling the same way . . .

When their lips finally separated, Han glanced over at the lake, a mischievous grin creeping across his face. "Say Leia," he murmured, "how stiff do you think the water is?"

"What?" said Leia, slightly taken aback. "Why do you ask?"

Han smirked. "I dunno . . . a moonlight skate, maybe." He stepped away from his wife and toward the ice. "Since you dragged me out here, we might as well take advantage of it." He strode onto the ice, further and further away from her, his wide, cheeky smile still present. Leia found herself laughing when he turned to face her and spread his arms out, as if welcoming the snow.

But her laughter only lasted a few seconds, until the ice gave way and cracked under Han's feet, sending him down under the water.

"HAN!!" Leia screamed, running up to the ice's edge, ignoring the way her feet kept sliding, hoping for a moment that he might surface, that the water was shallow enough for him to stand up, that _something _would happen to indicate he was all right, but no sign came, nothing except the cold, evil water bobbing up and down in its murderous waves. After only a few precious seconds, without any thought, without any pondering, she dove in after him.

The freezing water consumed her. She couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't breathe, couldn't feel anything except cold. With nothing but reflex and the vague sense of panic doused down by the cold, she pushed herself downward, her gloved hands sweeping through the water, trying desperately to find Han.

There was nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing, as if the world itself had vanished and left Leia alone to drown. Her lungs were burning, desperate for air, feeling like they were about to burst. The devastating, paralyzing cold seemed to be penetrating her skin, freezing her very insides, preventing her heart from pumping blood, even trying to prevent her brain from thinking.

For the first time, she had an idea of how Han felt in the carbonite chamber.

When it felt like her body was about to surrender to the icy water, her hand ran into something large and soft, yielding to her flesh. Han! Her energy was completely renewed within a millisecond. In one swift move, she pushed herself down with whatever strength she could find, grabbed her husband, and paddled towards the hole in the surface ice, the only thing she could make out in her vision. For a moment she was afraid that the hole was an illusion and they would be trapped down in the icy depths forever, but then she felt it. Air, wonderful air. Air that filled her lungs, giving her enough energy to push herself and Han out of the water and onto the thick part of the ice.

"H-H-H-H-Haaannn," she slurred through frozen lips, her body thoroughly exhausted, her eyes wanting to close. With great effort, she shoved her unconscious husband onto his back, her hand running over his chest, feeling for breath, for movement, for any sign of life, though her own breath was laboring more and more every second and her vision was fading. Perhaps they were both dying, perhaps everything was over for the both of them.

At least they were together . . .

Through the fog in her vision, she thought she saw shapes running toward them, but her energy was at last expended. With one final gasping breath, she collapsed on top of Han's body and knew no more.

- - - - - - - -

_Leia . . . daughter . . . you can wake up now . . . you're safe . . ._

_Wake up . . . _

It was warm. That thought rushed through Leia's mind almost before she regained consciousness. Warm. She was no longer in the water . . . she had survived . . .

But had Han?

Her eyes struggled to open, as if something was holding them shut, yet before she was released from blackness she already knew that she wasn't home – or anywhere else familiar. She was in a bed, but the covers smelled so perfectly clean, like they were actually washed every day. When her eyes finally blinked their way back into functioning, she saw that she was in a small white room, with a window that let in the first rays of sunrise.

A hospital room. That had to be where she was. She slowly turned her head to the side and saw that a needle was stuck in her arm, which let some kind of liquid flow into her arm through a tube.

"Oh, you're finally awake, thank the stars!"

Leia's head turned towards the door, noticing a young woman of somewhere in her twenties entering the room, wearing the white uniform of a doctor. She had dark blonde hair neatly tied up in a bun, out of which a few stray hairs were curled over her forehead.

"Wh-who are you?" Leia croaked, her throat burning with the attempt to speak.

"My name is Nia," the woman said, hurrying over to Leia's side. "You're in the hospital. You've . . . well, been unconscious for two days – but to be fair, most of that time was spent in a bacta tank, so it's not quite as outrageous as you might think."

"Two days??" Leia exclaimed.

"Yes," said Nia, "but you've only been out of the tank for about twelve hours. Your family's been in and out of here the entire time – they're worried sick about you."

"My family . . ." Leia muttered. Sola . . . Pooja . . . Ryoo and Siran . . . her _family . . . _they were worried about her like she was one of their own, even though they had only known her for such a short time. Somehow it touched her.

"They're downstairs right now," Nia informed, gently gripping Leia's wrist, casually checking her pulse. "I think they're sleeping. After all, they desperately need some rest."

"Where's Han?"

Nia's face suddenly fell. She swallowed loudly before speaking. "He's . . . he's still in the tank." She blinked rapidly as she stared into Leia's eyes. "Listen to me . . . I don't know whether or not he's going to make it."

Leia's eyes were wide, tearless, as if her energy to cry had waned away. "What do you mean?"

Nia sighed. "Strictly speaking, I usually work in the baby section – I examine expectant mothers and deliver babies."

"Then what are you doing here??"

Nia sighed a second time. "Because of Ryoo. I've been taking care of her during her pregnancy, and well . . . since she trusts me, she wanted me to watch over you after you came out of the tank." She held out a hand, as if giving a peace offering. "But don't worry, the specially trained doctors are treating your husband."

"Don't worry??" Leia snapped. "Don't worry?? My husband might die and you're telling me not to worry??"

"All right, you can worry if you want."

"I want to see him," Leia said in her firmest, strictest voice.

Nia gently wiped Leia's sweaty forehead with a towel. "You can, you can. But I'm afraid I'll have to give you a physical first."

"What??"

"I'm sorry," said Nia. "I don't doubt that you're recovering, but it's policy. I have to give you a physical before you go anywhere just to make sure you're healthy enough to leave your bed. It won't take long, I promise – and then you can go see your husband right away."

Leia ground her teeth as her head fell back onto the pillow in frustration, but she finally nodded in agreement. "All right, but be quick."

- - - - - - - - - -

Leia felt her eyes welling up at the sight of Han in the bacta tank, floating lifelessly, his arms hanging limp as if he were already dead. She slowly reached out and touched the cold glass, the awful barrier between them. "Han . . ." she whispered, rubbing the surface of the glass, as if pressing hard enough would wake her husband up.

This was her doing. All her doing. Why, why, _why_ did she insist that he join her in the snow? Why did she go out in the snow at all? She chewed her lip, realizing that she already knew the answer. Did the Force think it was funny for her to discover her family and then lose her husband immediately afterward?

_Mother, can't you help him?_

"For a long time it seemed that he was about to die," explained a doctor who was standing next to the tank. She cleared her throat. "We almost lost him more than once. But . . ." She smiled awkwardly at Leia. ". . . now his vitals are beginning to stabilize. If we're lucky, he might be able to come out in a few hours." She patted Leia's shoulder as the princess breathed a long sigh of relief. "You're quite brave to jump in the ice after him, you know that?"

"I had to," Leia murmured, pressing her nose against the tank, trying to send her husband soothing, healing thoughts through the Force, hoping that somewhere in the depths of unconsciousness he would receive them and gain the strength to recover.

- - - - - - - - -

Leia stood perfectly still as the doctors eased the unconscious Han into a hospital bed. His hair was still drenched from the tank and his mouth was hanging slightly open, as if he were gasping for breath. She could see the blue lines of veins in his closed eyelids, which were moving not at all.

"Leia! You're all right!"

Before Leia had enough time to recognize the voice, she felt Pooja's arms wrapping around her so tightly that it brought a bit of pain to her chest. "Leia . . . Leia . . . Leia . . ." her cousin murmured.

"All right, Pooja," said Ryoo's deep voice. "Don't strangle her."

Pooja giggled as she released Leia, after which Ryoo gave the princess a gentler hug. As their bodies pressed together, Leia thought she felt Ryoo's unborn baby kick.

"What were you _doing_ out there?" Ryoo asked with a hint of teasing in her voice.

"It's a bit of a strange story," Leia admitted.

"You're lucky I heard you and Han talking from my room," said Ryoo. "And you're lucky that Siran and I followed you."

"You _followed_ us?" Leia exclaimed.

Ryoo shrugged. "We were just watching over our cousin. Maybe it was paranoia coming from pregnancy, but I thought that maybe seeing your mother's grave would cause you to . . . well, do something to yourself." She gently pinched her cousin's cheek. "Well, this time I'm thankful for pregnancy paranoia."

Over Ryoo's shoulder, Leia noticed Sola entering the room, and this time it was Leia who ran up to the older woman and gave her a hug instead of the other way arond.

"Aunt Sola," she murmured.

"My niece," Sola murmured back before pulling out of the embrace and examining her niece's face, causing Leia to notice tears in her eyes. "That was such a brave thing you did for your husband. My sister would be so very proud of you."

Leia slowly turned around to face Han, who was now settled in the bed, breathing steadily. "I know," she whispered, inching towards her husband's side. Han still showed no signs of awareness, but at least he appeared relaxed. Leia gently kissed his forehead and squeezed his unresponsive hand. "Wake up soon, honey."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The day inched by, with Leia spending most of it watching over Han. She practically had to be dragged out of his room and back into her own so Nia could run some further tests on her, even though it was obvious to everyone that she was recovering. Stupid hospital policy.

It wasn't until evening, after Leia had finished her dinner, when a doctor finally came into her room and told her Han was awake. With that, she leapt to her feet and ran towards her husband's room, not even waiting for Nia's permission, not caring if running would make her collapse. Her only concern right now was Han.

When she reached his room, she found him lying in bed, still weak, but with eyelids fluttering, looking directly at her. She immediately sat down next to him and began rubbing his cheek.

Han gave her a feeble smile. "Hey sweetheart," he whispered.

Leia breathed in relief to hear her husband's voice. "Hey," she greeted back. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just went through carbon freeze a _second_ time," said Han, his smile growing a bit wider. "And once again, you're there to save my butt, aren't you?"

"_Han,"_ Leia said in a mock scolding voice.

"I'm serious," said Han.

Leia leaned over and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. "You have no idea what I went through to save you."

"Was it worse than that bikini thing?"

Leia smirked and shook her head. "When you get better, remind me to slap you." She immediately gave him another kiss to assure him that she wasn't serious.

"If you keep this up, I might get better sooner than you think," Han said with a soft, labored chuckle. "You wanna just slap me now?"

One of the doctors snickered. "All right Leia, I think your husband might want some space."

Han inhaled deeply, his eyes blinking in a sleepy manner, his hand gripping his wife's. "Naw . . . I don't need space from you . . . just from the doctors."

Leia grinned as she pushed Han's hair out of his forehead. "Tired already? Didn't you just have a three-day-long nap?"

Han yawned. "Yeah . . . guess nearly freezin' to death takes it out of me . . ."

Leia kissed her husband one last time. "All right, go to sleep. Hopefully you'll feel better when you wake up."

Han's eyes were closing, his breath becoming slower. "You'll be there when I wake up . . . right?"

"Yes Han," Leia said. "I promise."

Her words seemed to give Han permission to fall completely asleep, his hand still clasping hers. For what seemed to be a few good minutes she simply stared at him, entranced by his rhythmic breathing and his rising and falling chest.

"Leia?" said a voice, abruptly pulling her out of the trance and causing her to notice Nia standing in the doorway.

"Shh," Leia immediately exclaimed, pointing down at Han with her free hand. "He's asleep."

Nia's mouth twisted awkwardly. "Oh . . . well I guess this will have to wait, then."

"What?"

Nia leaned against the doorway. "Just . . . just a result from your physical. Don't worry, it's nothing bad . . . but I think you should both be here when I tell you. So, just let me know when he wakes up, and I'll tell you then." She walked out, leaving Leia bewildered.

- - - - - - - - - -

True to her word, Leia stayed with Han through the night. This time, none of the doctors pestered her to leave him – they all seemed to sense how adamant she was about staying. She soon lost complete track of time, but she didn't care. She wouldn't look at a chronometer – she would only listen to make sure Han was still breathing.

Eventually she fell asleep slumped over his bed, but none of the doctors had the heart to move her.

- - - - - - - - -

Leia awoke to the sound of a bird singing out the window. She blinked her eyes open, gradually seeing the morning sunlight pouring into the room. Her neck ached as she eased herself up with great difficulty, though the sound of her husband's breathing gave her comfort. As she hobbled towards the window, she vaguely remembered that Padme had visited her dreams once again, telling her not to worry, assuring her that everything would be all right.

And strangely enough, Leia found herself believing it.

"Mmm . . . Leia?"

Leia immediately darted back to the bed, sitting down on the foot of it, smiling as Han opened his eyes. "Good morning honey," she said. "Feel better?"

Han gave a loud, deep inhale. "A little bit." He returned her smile. "Thanks for stayin'."

Their morning greetings were interrupted by the sound of the door sliding open. Both heads turned to see Nia entering the room, a wide grin on her face. "Good, you're both awake," she said. "Finally you can hear the news."

"News?" inquired Han.

"Yes," said Nia, sitting down next to Leia, making for an intimate closeness between the three of them. "Something I discovered yesterday after examining her." She took Leia's hand and rubbed it enthusiastically. "Congratulations Leia . . . you're pregnant!"

Leia froze, her breath coming out in small bouts. Briefly she wondered if she had heard wrong or if she was dreaming, but slowly her mind comprehended the reality of the situation. "I'm . . . I'm pregnant?" she whispered, carefully, fragilely, as if acknowledging it too much would make the baby disappear.

Nia nodded excitedly. "Yes Leia, you're going to have a baby."

"WOO-HOO!" Han suddenly yelled. Though he was still weak, he forced himself to sit up so he could hug his wife. "We're gonna have a baby . . . I'm gonna be a dad . . ."

Leia hugged her husband back feeling dazed, but in a wonderful, joyous way. After a moment, she looked back up at Nia. "Are the others still here?"

"They've never left," said Nia.

"Then go get them," Leia said quickly. "We need to celebrate."

"Of course," said Nia. "Don't forget, I'm available to assist you during your pregnancy."

"Believe me, I won't," answered Leia.

With a final nod of enthusiasm, Nia darted out of the room.

Han continued to squeeze his wife. He slowly leaned down and kissed her stomach through her hospital gown. "I love you . . ." he whispered.

She knew he was probably expecting the "I know" that was their personal joke, but today she felt too overcome with emotion to bother with holding anything back.

"I love you too," she responded.

He looked up at her and gave her an open-mouthed grin. "We're gonna have a lot to tell Luke when he gets back."

"Yes," said Leia. "As soon as he gets back, we'll have to take him to meet our family." She could already sense the extreme happiness that her aunt and cousins would feel when they learned she was pregnant.

She could sense someone else's happiness, as well.

Someone dead and yet always present, someone she was never going to let go, the biggest treasure she had found here. Yes . . . that person was happy too . . .she was certain she wasn't imagining it. She thought she could almost hear that person congratulating her.

_Padme . . ._

_Mother._

THE END


End file.
